1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a known recording apparatus using a recording medium for recording, various types of recording media such as plain paper, OHP paper, or glossy paper may be used. When recording, the recording conditions for a recording unit are usually changed in accordance with the type of recording medium.
Small recording apparatuses typically used in households allow only a small quantity of recording media to be loaded on a loading unit at a time. Such apparatuses have a feeding unit that is capable of feeding various types of recording medium. For such a small-size apparatus, data is recorded only on a limited number of recording media in one recording action. This kind of recording apparatus is convenient for a user who wants to use various types of recording media since the recording media loaded in the loading unit can be easily changed with frequency.
The above-mentioned recording apparatus does not generally include means for identifying a type of recording medium. Instead, the user has to input the recording medium type into an output device, such as a host computer, which then sends data on the recording medium type to the recording apparatus.
Since there are various types of recording media, it is difficult for the user to recognize every type of recording media and input the correct recording medium type. Furthermore, the process for inputting the data on the recording medium type is complicated. For these reasons, for recording apparatuses, including relatively small-size recording apparatuses not using cassettes, a mechanism for automatically identifying the recording medium type has been proposed. For such a recording apparatus, it is not known whether or not the recording medium on the loading unit will be actually used for recording during the period between power up of the recording apparatus and start of recording. Therefore, it is difficult to decide when to identify the recording medium type in the loading unit.
As a method for automatically identifying the type of recording medium for known small-size recording apparatuses, U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,405 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-340166) discloses a method for acquiring data on the recording medium type by using a recording medium-type identifying unit while the recording medium is delivered through the recording apparatus. In this case, the recording medium-type identifying unit is mounted on the path of the recording medium, which extends from the loading unit to the position where recording is carried out by a recording unit. In this way, the recording medium type is identified by the detecting unit while the recording medium is delivered through the recording apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart describing a conventional method for identifying type of recording medium. When the recording apparatus is turned on, a controller in the recording apparatus, such as a CPU, waits for a recording command to be sent from a data output device, such as a host computer (i.e., the controller waits for the printing process to be started) (S601). The data output device sends data to be recorded to the recording apparatus (S602 and S603). Then, the recording apparatus begins feeding the recording medium (S604). When an edge sensor detects a leading edge of the recording medium (S605), the leading edge of the recording medium is set at a start position for recording (S606). Subsequently, the recording medium-type identifying unit mounted on a main scanning unit (carriage) for moving the recording unit in the main scanning direction acquires the data on the recording medium type (S607). Finally, based on this acquired data, recording conditions corresponding to the type of recording medium are selected and recording begins (S608).
When a document to be recorded includes a plurality of pages, such recording apparatus simply repeats the recording sequence described in FIG. 6 (i.e., feeding the recording medium, acquiring data on the recording medium type by the recording-medium type identifying unit, and selecting the recording conditions) for each page of the document. The recording medium-type identifying unit only identifies medium type for the first recording medium and not for subsequent media. The recording apparatus assumes that all pages of the same document will be recorded on the same type of recording medium and that the same type of recording medium will be fed from the loading unit.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart describing control of a known recording apparatus in which steps for identifying type of recording medium used for recording a second and subsequent pages of the document are omitted.
The process for recording the first page of the document is the same as described in FIG. 7 (S701 to S710). Even if data for the next document page is received (S711), the recording medium type for the next document page is not identified and the page is printed (S712 to S717).
The above-mentioned recording apparatus has the following problems.
In the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,405 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-340166), data on the recording medium type is sent from the host computer after recording is started. Therefore, the total amount of time required from the beginning to the end of recording becomes relatively long, reducing throughput. Moreover, when a multi-page document is printed using a recording apparatus that acquires data on the medium type for each page of the document, the time required for the entire recording process is significantly increased.
For a recording apparatus that acquires data on the recording medium type for only the first recording medium even though the document includes a plurality of pages, the second and subsequent pages of the document are recorded according to the conditions-selected for the first page. Recording is carried out according to the same conditions even when there is not enough of the same type of recording media loaded for recording all pages of the document. For this reason, when recording is carried out on a second or subsequent recording medium that is a different type of recording medium compared to the first recording medium, the feeding action might become unstable, resulting in unsatisfactory recording.